Study: WhatsApp used by 41% of Indian Web users, 3% of U.S. users

A GlobalWebIndex study of worldwide WhatsApp (FB) usage (China/Japan excluded) found nearly 1/5 of all Web-connected adults aged 16-64 in studied markets are now using the service.

However, the figure is only at 3% in the U.S., where plain-vanilla SMS remains widely used, and rival mobile messaging platforms (iMessage, BBM, Gchat, Facebook Messenger) have a decent amount of share.

In 4 locales - Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, and Malaysia - at least half of all Web users aged 16-64 are on WhatsApp. The figure is 41% for India (243M Web users by June, per a recent study), 45% for Spain, and 47% for Mexico.

WhatsApp crossed 500M MAUs in April, and is on a trajectory that could lead it to top 1B next year. Facebook, for reference, had 1.28B MAUs at the end of Q1.

But as the GWI survey highlights, a huge chunk of WhatsApp base is in emerging markets where Facebook has low ARPUs. Facebook has promised not to use ads to monetize WhatsApp, which currently charges a $0.99/year subscription fee in some regions.